Rabbi Howard Morrison

At the outset of Parshat Va'era, the entire Children of Israel find themselves enslaved in Egypt. They are indeed trapped, captive, taken hostage, with nowhere to go and no end in sight. God then instructs Moses to say the following to the people:

"I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians

and deliver you from their bondage.

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements.

And I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God. . . . 

I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus 6:6-8)"

Notice five consecutive verbs of redemption - V'Hotzaiti (I will free you), V'Hitzalti (I will deliver you), V'Ga'alti (I will redeem you), V'Lakachti ( I will take you), followed soon after by "V'Havaiti ( I will bring you).

These verbs of promise form the foundation for the five cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. We cannot read God's mind nor understand why our ancestors began their experience with slavery in Egypt; however, God promises redemption in these five stages. The Etz Hayim commentary, based on earlier sources, explains the stages as follows:

"I will free you - from physical enslavement in Egypt.

I will deliver you - from the psychological mind-set of being a slave, which might persist even after you have physically liberated. 

I will redeem you - so that you will think of yourselves as a free people.

I will take you - into a special relationship with Me, for that is the ultimate goal of your liberation.

I will bring you into the land which I swore to Abraham - Only when the Israelites have their own land can they become the special people they are summoned to be."

I think of these stages of redemption in terms of the Jewish people as a whole these days, and the situation concerning hostages already liberated, and hopefully, more and all hostages to be soon liberated.

While the first stage, physical freedom from ancient Egypt, has clearly taken place 100%, the other stages are not so clear for all Jews. Let me explain:

The psychological mind set for all Jews feeling free might not be a given - for Holocaust survivors and their families, for example; for IDF soldiers coming back from war coping with PTSD; for hostages who were returned last year or now, and their families. Psychological trauma can indeed be strong in these examples, and in many others.

The thinking of ourselves as a free people might also not be a given. For sure, we are grateful for a State of Israel. Our people know too well the implications of not having our own sovereign state. Just consider the Shoah and hundreds of other situations before that throughout our history. Even, with our sovereign State, we may not feel so free, with Israel continuously surrounded by enemies on all sides and having always to be vigilant.

Being in a special relationship with God is a given for many Jews but also a source of conflict for many other Jews for all kinds of reasons, starting with the whole theology of what God is and what God demands of us.

Ironically, it is the fifth term of redemption which is perhaps simpler than the second, third, and fourth stages of redemption - "I will bring you into the land." After almost 2000 years of exile and dispersion, our people are sovereign in our land since 1948. I would agree, while living in the Diaspora, that only in Israel can a Jew live the fullest possible Jewish life. For example, certain Mitzvot can be observed only living in Israel. With regard to the hostages, fortunately, some hostages physically returned home a year ago this past November, and small numbers have begun to return home now. We pray that twenty-six more return home over the next five weeks, and that all ninety-four in total return home soon.

These five terms of redemption form an essential part of our four-thousand-year heritage, and they form the basis for the cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. Just as we pray annually for "next year in Jerusalem,'' let us also pray annually that all the Torah's terms of redemption be fulfilled for all Jews at a Peach in the very near future.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison